Most small businesses can’t afford a full-time finance chief. So Mastercard is debuting a ‘virtual CFO’ built with AI |
Most small businesses can’t afford a full-time finance chief. So Mastercard is debuting a ‘virtual CFO’ built with AI
Large companies can rely on in-house finance chiefs for strategic guidance. Many small business owners, by contrast, must make CFO-level decisions on their own. Mastercard is betting a new “Virtual C-suite” can help fill that gap.
The new agentic AI offering will eventually span multiple digital “executives,” starting with a virtual CFO that helps owners manage cash flow, working capital, and financial risk.
Why now? “I consistently hear the same thing from small business owners: they’re stretched too thin—acting as CEO, CFO, and COO all at once,” Mark Barnett, global head of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) at Mastercard, told Fortune. Many are “buried in spreadsheets and day‑to‑day decisions, with little time to step back and see what’s really driving the business.” The Virtual C‑Suite has been under active exploration for the past six months, he said.
Barnett describes it as the “next phase of digitization,” using AI agents to continuously analyze what’s happening across the systems small businesses already rely on and turn complexity into clear, timely recommendations. “For years, large enterprises have relied on this kind of always‑on, executive‑level insight,” he said. “We saw a........